Jelly Beans, Chocolate Eggs and Ares, OH My!
by Smenzer
Summary: Herc, Jason and Iolaus have a very crazy Easter thanks to Ares! RR please.


Title: Jelly Beans, Chocolate Rabbits and Ares, Oh My!  
  
Author: Smenzer  
  
Rating: G  
  
Pairing: None. Young Hercules  
  
Archive: Yes, please. Let me know if you take it, OK?  
  
Teaser: The title says it all.....  
  
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Studios USA or  
  
Whoever owns the Rights to Young Hercules.  
  
Ares sat in his temple, bored. He relaxed sideways in his favorite throne chair, one leg thrown over the arm. Torches glowed red around his chair, as did dozens of candles set in holders. And if this wasn't enough light, a pale white beam shone on him from a window set high up the wall.  
  
Nothing at all was going on, not even a minor skirmish somewhere. And the War God knew exactly why. Spring was in the air and almost everyone was thinking of Love. Everyone except Ares, that is. When he got bored, his thoughts generally changed to his mortal half-brother, Hercules. He was trying to think up a new scheme to make his brother's lives miserable and if not miserable, then at least confuse him and his little buddies. But his creativity was running low at the moment. Yet he was determined to think of something. But what?  
  
"ARES!" A loud booming voice called, the sound shaking the dark stone walls and making the candles rattle in their holders.  
  
"Great. Just what I need now is dear old Dad on my case." Ares swung his leg down and stood up. Glancing up towards the ceiling, he said. "I'm coming, Father!"  
  
Ares popped out with a bright flash of light. A moment later he appeared up on Olympus, right outside his father's throne room. The giant golden doors were carved with fancy designs meant to impress, but Ares yawned at it. He had seen it all before. Shaking himself awake, Ares opened the door and walked in.  
  
Zeus' throne room was incredibly big, with a high domed ceiling. The floor was white marble streaked with veins of gold and black. A red carpet led from the door up to Zeus' impressive throne. His father sat on the throne now, waiting for him. His father wore his usual white robes with golden sandals on his feet.  
  
As befitting a God, Ares slowly walked forward until he reached Zeus' throne. It would not due to hurry. Stopping before the King of the Gods, Ares bowed from the waist. "Father?"  
  
"Ah, there you are, Ares." Zeus said as he looked at his son. "I have something for you, Son. Its that time of year again, you know."  
  
Reaching behind his throne, Zeus pulled out a big Easter basket filled with candy. It had two chocolate rabbits, cream filled eggs, bright jelly beans and pink marshmallow rabbits. The basket itself was woven of bright straw and had a big blue bow at the top. He handed the basket of candy to Ares. "There you go, Son. Your holiday candy, just like you get every year. Now I want you to share the candy with your brother, Hercules."  
  
"What? Why should I share with him for?" Ares asked as he took the basket of sweets. He peered inside at the brightly colored treats and couldn't wait to leave so he could go eat it. He knew better than to eat even a single piece in front of Zeus! "You're the King of the Gods. Can't you get him his own basket?"  
  
"Now Ares, you know how difficult it is for me to get this candy for you and the other Gods." Zeus explained as he pointed at the basket. "I have to get it from the far future, which is tricky stuff! All the suffering I go through in those horrid places with long lines and mazes of shelves and rude people and strange voices that come from the air itself, saying bizarre stuff like 'Attention Kmart shoppers'. I still don't know what that means. Anyway, it's very expensive, so please share a few pieces with your brother."  
  
"Half brother." Ares reminded his father.  
  
"Oh, very well! Your HALF brother then!" Zeus sighed. "Now go."  
  
Ares bowed again and left the throne room. Not waiting another second, Ares popped out with his horde of highly desired candy. Of course, now he had to hide it on Strife and Discord, who would only be too happy to eat his share as well as their own! But that could wait until later. For now, he would relax on his throne and munch. Digging a black jelly bean out the basket, he popped it into his mouth and chewed. Black was his favorite, with red coming in second place.  
  
"Now why should I share with you, Little Brother? I doubt if you'd eat anything I gave you anyway, now would you?" Ares asked the empty room, thinking out loud to himself. Then an idea popped into his head. He would do as his Father commanded and give Hercules some candy.  
  
Throwing back his head, Ares laughed.  
  
*** ***  
  
Hercules, Jason and Iolaus raced out of the Academy, pushing and shoving each other. It was a warm spring day and they were finally free. Hercules raced ahead and was the first one to pass through the Academy's arched gate.  
  
"Let's go out to the field and play a game of bagball." Jason said as he tossed the ball from hand to hand. While the ball was in the air, Iolaus ran past and stole it, laughing. Jason started to run after the curly haired youth. "Hey! Come back here with that!"  
  
Hercules saw Iolaus race past him, then Jason. Not wanting to be left behind, the young Demigod hurried after his friends. The three charged up a steep grassy hill, their favorite bagball field was just on the other side. The field was surrounded by thick forest on three sides and was isolated in the fact that hardly anyone ever went there but them. In truth, it was close to the Academy so help was near if anything ever happened.  
  
Iolaus reached the top of the hill and skidded to a stop. "whoa!"  
  
Jason and Hercules bumped into Iolaus, not expecting him to stop suddenly. Iolaus almost fell over but caught his balance. "Hey, be careful! You almost knocked me down!"  
  
"Why did you stop for?" Jason asked, looking at Iolaus.  
  
"That's why." Hercules pointed at the field. Large mysterious objects littered the bagball field. They reminded Hercules of big boulders, except for the bright colors. From here, he could see a pink one, a yellow one, pale green, one that appeared speckled. And what was that dark brown thing over there?  
  
"What are those things?" Jason asked as he stared at them. "They weren't here last weekend."  
  
"I don't know." Hercules admitted. "Whatever they are, I never saw anything like them."  
  
"Let's go down there and see what they are!" Iolaus tucked the bagball under his arm and hurried down the hill. He approached the nearest object, a bright yellow one. He craned his neck to see the top, but couldn't. The thing, whatever it was, was taller than he was! Dropping the bagball onto the ground, Iolaus reached out to touch it. The object was incredibly smooth under his hands and he noted was even a bit shiny.  
  
Jason joined him and walked around the huge yellow object. The Crown Prince of Corinth studied it from all sides. "It looks like a huge egg."  
  
"I agree." Hercules said as he also studied the shape. "But an egg from what? What kind of creature lays brightly colored eggs in so many different colors?"  
  
*** ***  
  
Ares sat on his chair chewing jelly beans as he watched his God TV. "Oh, this is too good! Little Brother thinks their real eggs! Wonder what he'll think of the giant chocolate bunny?"  
  
Laughing, Ares decided that enlarging the candy with his powers was the best idea ever! He couldn't wait to see what the cadets would do next!  
  
*** ***  
  
"Say, do you think we could eat these eggs?" Iolaus asked as he pounded on the smooth shell. He pressed his face right up against the side and sniffed loudly. "Hmm ... it smells sweet!"  
  
"Don't tell me you're hungry again! We just ate breakfast!" Jason pointed out as he shook his head. "And what are you going to do when the creature that laid them comes back? Huh? It might eat you!"  
  
"But why are they all different colors?" Hercules asked as he walked among the giant eggs. This entire situation, he had to admit, was very strange. Something about these brightly colored eggs just wasn't right and it just wasn't the colors, either. The shapes, when he studied them from a distance, seemed to be off. Real eggs, he knew, had that perfect egg shape. These came pretty close but the ends seemed to be a bit funny looking, knobby almost. And they didn't feel like eggshell, either. They were too smooth.  
  
So what were they then?  
  
Iolaus dashed past him, almost knocking him down. The curly haired cadet dashed up to a dark brown egg. He pressed his face against it and sniffed, just as he had done to the yellow one. "This one smells different!"  
  
"Yeah," Jason laughed as Iolaus moved his face away from the egg. His face, including his nose, was covered with dark brown stuff. "And it's all over you!"  
  
"Huh?" Iolaus wiped at his face and saw the sticky brown stuff on his fingers. Sticking his fingers in his mouth, Iolaus sucked. "Hmmm... this tastes good! Really good!"  
  
"Don't eat that!" Hercules cried as he tried to pull Iolaus away from the egg. "Guys, I don't think these are real eggs. I think someone left them here for us to find."  
  
Iolaus pulled a dagger off his belt and chopped a hunk off the end of the egg. He stuffed it in his mouth and chewed, brown juice dripping down his chin, neck and onto his tunic. "You guys should try some of this! It's really good!"  
  
"And Chiron says we shouldn't eat stuff if we don't know what it is or where it came from." Jason reminded. The Prince scanned the field full of eggs. "And this certainly qualifies. It's too odd."  
  
"Hey, it could be a gift from your Father!" Iolaus pointed the dagger at Herc. "Maybe this is the stuff Gods eat. Who knows?"  
  
"I don't think this is Ambrosia." Hercules said. He wished Iolaus wouldn't eat the strange food, if it was food.  
  
Iolaus chopped another chunk off the end of the dark brown egg and a pale pink goo started to come out. It slowly poured on top of Iolaus, covering him in a thick gooey syrup. The startled cadet stepped backward and slipped, falling onto the grass. His head, arms and upper body was covered with the stuff. He waved his arms around and his tongue licked at the sticky syrup. "This stuff tastes like cherries!"  
  
"Cherries?" Jason asked, surprised. The Prince stuck a finger into the thin stream of goo coming from the egg. Once his finger was covered, he stuck it into his mouth and sucked. "Iolaus is right. This does taste like cherries! Hey, and maybe this brown stuff is chocolate? I once had a visiting dignitary give me chocolate years and years ago. It's very expensive and rare around these parts. It comes from some mysterious land far beyond the sea. It looked a lot like this dark brown stuff and melted in your hand."  
  
"Chocolate?" Hercules asked, confused. "Why would someone leave a giant chocolate cherry-filled egg in the bagball field?"  
  
"Who knows? Maybe Iolaus is right and it was your father." Jason added as he tore a piece off the egg. Sticking it in his mouth, he tasted it. The Prince grinned widely. "Hey, this IS chocolate! And it's the best chocolate I ever tasted!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Ares laughed even harder, slapping his thigh. He almost choked on a jelly bean and went into a coughing fit. Finally hacking the spicy pink jelly bean out of his mouth, he put the Easter basket onto the floor next to his throne. Moving to a sitting up position, he leaned closer to the screen.  
  
The look of utter confusion on Hercules' face was priceless!  
  
What would the cadets do next?  
  
*** ***  
  
"Hey! Look at that!" Jason pointed towards the far end of the field, near the trees. Something extremely tall and dark rose up against the green of the trees. The object rested in the grass, propped up at an angle. If Hercules would have heard of Easter Island, it would have reminded him of the mysterious heads gazing out to see -- but of course he didn't. "That looks like more chocolate!"  
  
Hercules watched Jason run off and the Demigod soon took off after him. They soon reached the thing and saw it was a giant chocolate rabbit! The rabbit had two thick upright ears, big eyes and fat cheeks. It held a chocolate egg in its hands, which were folded over its chest. Fat legs with big feet held it upright. And like Jason had said, the entire thing was made from chocolate! It reminded Hercules of a bizarre Amazon totem.  
  
"Hey, let's sneak this into our room at the Academy!" Jason said as he eyed it hungrily. "We can eat on it for weeks!"  
  
"Are you kidding? How can we sneak something like that in?" Hercules asked. The rabbit was just taller than he was. "And were would we put it?"  
  
"We can put it in Iolaus' bed!" Jason laughed. The Prince glanced towards Iolaus where he was rolling around in the grass, trying to wipe the cherry goo off himself. Of course, all that really happened it that he was gluing bits of green grass all over his body! "Looks like he won't be needing his bed for a while."  
  
"I don't know if that's a good idea. What would we say to Chiron?" Hercules always tried to keep his friends out of trouble. He knew that sneaking this giant chocolate rabbit into the school would be wrong. And he still felt uneasy about this entire situation. His blue eyes scanned the nearby woods, watching for the slightest movement. Could someone be out there, watching them? The back of his neck tingled as if there were but he sensed no one.  
  
"Ah, who cares?" Jason waved a hand at Hercules. "Loosen up! It'll be fun! The school has been so boring lately, all drills and practicing. We need some excitement like this!"  
  
"But I don't think Chiron...." Hercules started but didn't get to finish.  
  
"Who cares about old Horse Face?" Iolaus interrupted. "It sounds like a great idea! I'd rather eat chocolate than those old oats! Let's sneak it in now!"  
  
Sighing, Hercules grabbed the chocolate rabbit and pushed it over. Jason and Iolaus caught the head end before it hit the ground. Then spacing themselves equally along the rabbit's body, they started to move it towards the Academy. Getting it through the field of giant eggs was tricky but they managed. They even avoided the large cherry lake that was rapidly taking over a large section of the field, three bright eggs helplessly marred in the syrup. Hercules saw this and frowned. Their bagball field would never be the same.  
  
They dragged the rabbit up the steep hill and down the other side, occasionally stopping for rest breaks. Finally the Academy was in sight. Covered in grass, Iolaus was wearing good camouflage so he ran ahead to check. He peered in through the open gates and saw no one in sight. Running back to his friends, he helped them hoist the rabbit and they raced towards the school. They made it through the gates and into the school itself. Now came the tricky part. Could they make it to their room without getting caught by Chiron?  
  
*** ***  
  
Chiron clip-clopped down the empty hallway. He was just going past his office when he thought he heard a sound come from inside. The centaur Headmaster opened his office door and went inside. "Hello? Who is in here?"  
  
Chiron moved forward and peered behind his desk, expecting to find a crouching student. But no one was there. Confused, Chiron stared around the small room. There was no where else to hide. Shaking his head, Chiron headed for the still open door. "I must be hearing things."  
  
The door blew shut as a gust of breeze hit the centaur in the face, blowing his long dark hair.  
  
Chiron tried to open the door but it refused to budge. Lately he had been having problems with the door sticking. Or sometimes it refused to close. Chiron's dark eyes examined the door from top to bottom. "Ah ha! The hinge has popped free at the bottom and is preventing it from opening. I will need to fix it."  
  
Turning around, the centaur went to his desk to look for a screw driver.  
  
*** ***  
  
Ares popped back to his throne, laughing. Now Hercules and his buddies would be able to sneak the chocolate rabbit into the school. After all, it would be SO much better for Chiron to find the rabbit IN their bed!  
  
Reaching for his Easter basket, Ares saw it was gone! Someone had stolen it while he had broken Chiron's door!  
  
"WHO TOOK MY CANDY?" The War God bellowed angrily.  
  
*** ***  
  
"Come on, hurry up!" Jason urged as they raced through the empty school hallways with the giant chocolate rabbit. They sped around corners and almost crashed into the wall but managed to avoid it. Finally their room was dead ahead and they sped inside. The dumped the giant bunny on Iolaus top bunk and hid it under the blanket. It's big feet and flat bottom was sticking out, as was its ears, but hopefully no one would notice that. They had hidden it the best they could.  
  
"I still don't think this is such a good idea, guys. We could get in trouble." Hercules pointed out once again. He hated always being the serious one, but what could he do? He was just serious and always tried to do the right thing. Most times though, the right thing was not the fun thing.  
  
"I don't remember reading it was against the school rules to sneak in giant chocolate rabbits, do you, Jason?" Iolaus asked innocently, a grin pasted on his face. Iolaus looked a real fright: the cherry goo and grass had dried in his hair and on his body. The little hunter didn't seem to care though. He was having fun!  
  
"Nope, didn't read anything about that." Jason laughed as he patted Herc on his shoulder. "Come on, stop worrying! No one won't ever find it!"  
  
Glancing back at the rabbit, Hercules followed his two best friends out of the room. What sort of punishment would Chiron give them? He hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't be too bad.  
  
*** ***  
  
Discord laughed as she sat high up in a tree, eating from Ares' Easter basket. She pulled out a bright yellow chick and viscously bit its head off. Staring down at the sticky white marshmallow center, Discord frowned. "It's a real pity these things don't bleed."  
  
Still, she preferred the items with heads. Ares could have the stupid jelly beans and chocolate eggs. Where was the fun in eating those?  
  
*** ***  
  
Chiron finally fixed his door and walked out into the hall. He thought he heard someone running in the nearby hall and went to investigate. Just as he turned the corner, he glimpsed something was on the other end before it vanished around another bend.  
  
It had been an odd shade of pink and covered with green spots.  
  
"I need a rest." Chiron said as the confused centaur headed back to his room for a nap. "First I'm hearing things, now seeing things. That can't be good."  
  
*** ***  
  
Hercules, Iolaus and Jason were soon back at the field. To their dismay, they discovered the place was now filled with huge swarms of buzzing insects. Flies, hornets, wasps and thousands of ants. They were all attracted to the sticky cherry goo that leaked out of the egg.  
  
"Those bugs are eating our eggs!" Iolaus complained loudly as he looked on with a frown.  
  
"Ah, let them!" Jason said as he swung his hand. "We can still rescue some of the other ones, take them back to the Academy. There's a few over there that should be free of the sticky cherry stuff."  
  
But the hornets had other ideas. They swarmed around Iolaus, sensing the sweet cherry goo that covered his body. It was especially thick in his curly locks of blonde hair. Iolaus waved his hands at them, shooing at them but it did little good. More and more hornets buzzed around the brave little hunter and big fat flies soon joined them.  
  
Hercules and Jason thought they were clean, but they weren't. They had chocolate on their faces, neck, arms and hands from carrying the big rabbit. The dark stain of chocolate was especially noticeable in Hercules' hair. The hornets and flies started to buzz around them, too. The insects landed on them, walking with their little feet.  
  
The three heroes waved their arms but soon there was too many.  
  
"Run!" Hercules shouted loudly as he raced away from the lake of pink goo, a dark swarm of insects after him. He didn't know where he was going, just that he was running AWAY from the bugs! Several yellow jackets stung him and he ran even faster!  
  
*** ***  
  
Discord licked the last sweet bits of sugar off her fingertips as the wonderful sound of screams floated up to her ears. The Goddess was still perched high in the tree with Ares' Easter basket. She peered down through the pale green branches and saw her little half brother Hercules running at full speed. He had his two little friends with him. Discord laughed when she saw the huge swarm of flying insects chasing the little twerp.  
  
"I hope they sting you!" Discord laughed from her spot of safety in the tree. Besides, insects couldn't bite her anyway. That was one of the advantages of being a real Goddess.  
  
Discord laughed even harder when she realized WHERE they were heading!  
  
"Poor brother. Soon your temple will be filled with BUGS!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Hercules raced through a green field and saw a dark stone building up ahead. A few wide stairs led to a pair of heavy wooden doors. Hercules had never seen the building before and had no idea who it belonged to. But at this point he didn't care.  
  
"Quick! In there!" Hercules shouted as he beeline for the building's front doors.  
  
*** ***  
  
Ares was still fuming about his stolen Easter candy when his temple door flew open. He spun around on one heel and was shocked to see his half mortal brother running into his temple at full speed. His mouth dropped open in shock at the strange sight.  
  
"AAAHHhhhhhhhh!" Hercules screamed as he ran deeper into the building. He spotted Ares standing up front, his mouth hanging open.  
  
Uh oh!  
  
Hercules spotted the black stone altar almost too late, but managed to leap over it. He knew Ares would no doubt kill him later for that, but he HAD to escape from those yellow jackets!  
  
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?" Ares screamed at Hercules as the Demigod leaped over his altar, scattering donations on the floor.  
  
"RUN!" Hercules shouted. "Wasps! Yellow jackets! Hornets! Flies! BUGS!"  
  
Jason was right behind Hercules, waving his arms in the air. He spotted the altar and ran around it, following his friend. "I hope you know where you're going, Herc!"  
  
Iolaus brought up the rear, surrounded by a big cloud of buzzing bugs. "Ahhhhh! Get away from me! Shooo! Owwww!"  
  
"What the..." Ares stared at the giant swarm of biting bugs that followed the cadets into his temple.  
  
"Quick! In here!" Hercules spotted a door behind Ares throne and yanked it open. Grabbing Jason and Iolaus, he shoved them inside and leaped in himself. Hercules pulled the door closed and heard it snap.  
  
He clung to his beating heart with one hand as he tried to catch his breath. For the moment they appeared to be safe, but what would Ares do to them? He probably would be VERY angry at them! Especially at him for so rude leaping over his altar.  
  
"Oh, I'm so dead!" Hercules moaned as he slumped down with his back against a wall.  
  
*** ***  
  
The angry swarm of bugs flew around Ares, several landing on him and trying to bite him. Ares growled angrily and started to fling fireballs at the huge masses of insects. He laughed as their bodies sizzled and fried, falling to the floor as bits of ash.  
  
  
  
When he was finally finished and most of the bugs had been destroyed, he turned to face the door behind his throne.  
  
"I'm coming for you now, Little Brother!"  
  
*** ***  
  
"Oh, look! Water!" Iolaus pointed at a big square pool of water. "We can clean all this stuff off ourselves so bugs won't chase us anymore."  
  
"Are you crazy, Iolaus? Any minute Ares is going to come in here and kill us!" Hercules said as he shook his best friend. "This is one of his temples!"  
  
"Yeah, he looked very angry." Jason said as he looked around the room. They were inside what appeared to be a bedroom, but yet it had a pool of water. On the other side of the room the Prince saw a big four poster bed, a dresser and other assorted bedroom items. Jason shrugged his shoulders. "Yet he looked surprised, too."  
  
"Well, we still need to get clean!" Iolaus moved towards the pool and jumped in. "I'd rather face Ares then get ate alive by those bugs! Hey, you guys didn't get bit as much as I did. Look at all these bumps I got on me now. And they hurt!"  
  
"Iolaus! Get out of there!" Hercules rushed to the edge of the pool and tried to grab his friend. After a few tries, he managed to grip Iolaus' arm, but the golden hunter pulled him in! Hercules landed in the warm water with a huge splash, water flying up everywhere. Enough water splashed up that Jason got soaking wet.  
  
"Why the heck did you pull me in for?" Hercules yelled at Iolaus. "We got to get out of here!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Unaware of any of the other things going on that day, Apollo flew through the clear blue sky on his golden board. The Sun God had a basket of candy in his hand and was happily chewing on yellow jelly beans. It seemed a perfect day for sky surfing, except it was still a bit chilly, especially this high up.  
  
"Well, that's easy enough to fix!" Apollo said as he urged his golden board up higher towards the sun. It was late enough, now that it was spring, to have a hot day. Having an occasional hot day in early spring might be rare but not too unusual. Nothing that Zeus or even Gaia could complain about. In fact, all the Gods would probably enjoy it. Winter had lasted long enough!  
  
Reaching the sun, Apollo did his thing and raised the temperature. The sun grew hotter and started to bake all of Greece below, including the Academy.  
  
In the cadets' room, one giant chocolate rabbit started to melt.  
  
*** ***  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SAUNA?!" Ares yelled as he flung open the door and spotted Hercules and his curly haired friend in his pool. After a hard battle when his muscles were sore and stiff, Ares enjoyed relaxing in the hot soothing water that lapped against his chest. But it was his private pool. His mongrel half-brother didn't belong in it!  
  
"I'm cleaning all this cherry goo off myself, what does it look like?" Iolaus replied matter-of-factly. "That is, I was until Herc fell on me!"  
  
"Fell on you? You pulled me in!" Hercules shouted at Iolaus. "I was trying to pull you out of the pool!"  
  
"Yeah, before I was clean! You want me to get ate alive by those bugs!" Iolaus shoved Hercules on his chest, sending him falling backward against the side of the sauna. "Out! I was in here first. Wait your turn!"  
  
"No, we're leaving, Iolaus!" Hercules shouted back at his friend. He tried to grab Iolaus by his friend slapped at him. After several tries, he finally gripped his friend around the wrist and started pulling. "Didn't you hear him? He wants us out of the water!"  
  
"Yeah, Iolaus." Jason said from the edge of the pool. "Where are your manners? You can't wash inside someone else's sauna. Besides, that's a sauna. S-A-U-N-A. It's not for washing but for relaxing!"  
  
"Oh yeah? You're not so smart, Jason!" Iolaus replied as he struggled to slip away from Hercules. "If you're so smart, why did you have to pay Lilith to be your girlfriend for a day, huh? You can't even get a date!"  
  
"Only because your face scares all the girls away!" Jason retorted loudly, moving closer to the sauna. Now he was standing on the edge. "Bring him over here, Herc. I'll help you pull him out."  
  
Ares stood silently, watching the three argue. "Hello? Did you three forget I was here and ANGRY at you?"  
  
"Don't worry, Ares." Jason said. "We'll get Iolaus out of the sauna for you. He's a bit dimwitted sometimes though."  
  
"Come on, Iolaus! Stop struggling!" Hercules pulled harder on Iolaus' wrist. "Help me, Jason!"  
  
"OK!" Jason reached down and gripped Hercules around the chest, locking his two hands together. Then he started to pull. The tile floor under Jason's boots was wet and the Prince slipped, falling into the Sauna with a loud splash.  
  
"I told you to HELP me, Jason, not jump in!" Hercules kicked the Prince, as his butt was sticking up in the air.  
  
"Ow! Hey, don't kick me, Herc!" Jason turned around and tried to slap Herc. "I only fell in because YOU made the floor all wet!"  
  
"Will you two PLEASE get out of the water?" Iolaus complained as he tried to shove both Jason and Herc out of the sauna. "You're using up all the water!"  
  
Ares stared at them in shock. "I have NEVER seen such a dimwitted group of warriors as the three of you! You're worse than Strife and Discord! And I have had enough! You are leaving NOW!"  
  
The War God waved his hand and the three vanished from his sauna in a flash of white light. The sauna filled with clean water and everything in his room was instantly dry. Going into the other room, Ares sat in his throne and flicked on his God TV. Soon a room in the Academy came into focus.  
  
Watching the new scene unfold, Ares laughed.  
  
*** ***  
  
"Ahhhhh! Look at my bed! It's ruined!" Iolaus cried loudly as he tried to pull the blanket off the melted chocolate bunny. "Ugghhh! It looks so DISGUSTING!"  
  
"And it dripped all over MY bed!" Hercules moaned. "I told you we shouldn't have brought that chocolate thing home!"  
  
"We better get some towels, too." Jason added. "We're getting the room all wet."  
  
"How are we going to clean this mess?" Iolaus asked.  
  
"I don't know." Jason said as he headed down the hallway to get towels. "You might have to throw the entire bed out."  
  
Both Hercules and Iolaus groaned loudly at this news. 


End file.
